Apple and Samsung back at the bargaining table, deal came close in February

The Wall Street Journal summarizes information from court documents and various sources that points to Apple and Samsung being back at the bargaining table after the two companies spent much of 2012 in court proceedings regarding patent infringement claims. During the summer of 2012, Apple won a major lawsuit in California court against Samsung due to design patent infringement claims regarding the iPad and iPhone.

Today’s report shares that since that time, the Cupertino and South Korean tech firms have met multiple times in private to come to some sort of settlement. Since last summer, the two companies have still been filing lawsuits against each other. Notably, today’s report claims that a settlement was near this past February, but the talks dissolved. Even with the cool-down, the talks are reportedly still on-going. Samsung reportedly has made proposals for the potential settlement:

In the negotiations, described sparingly in heavily redacted documents from the U.S. International Trade Commission made public earlier this month and by people familiar with them, Samsung has pushed for a broad patent cross-licensing deal that could settle all outstanding litigation between the companies. It is unclear whether Apple was interested in such a deal.

Apple reportedly claimed Samsung’s rate was too high for patent settlements. A report from last year noted that Apple, in 2010, offered a similarly structured settlement package for Samsung. Samsung, too, thought its competitor’s rate was too high.

Of course, a settlement between the companies would be ideal. Apple relies on Samsung for vital iOS Device components, and Samsung, in turn, makes revenue off of selling these pieces to Apple. In recent years, Apple has tried to diversify its suppliers.